1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hard disk drive (HDD), a method for controlling a Flying On Demand (FOD) voltage within the HDD, and a computer readable recording medium recording the method. More particularly, the invention relates to a HDD, a FOD voltage control method, and related computer readable recording medium in which the HDD includes a magnetic head having improved recording and reproduction capabilities which simultaneously prevent damage to the magnetic head and/or a disk within the HDD when a shock is applied to the HDD.
This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0039446, filed on 2 May 2006, the subject matter of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Hard disk drives (HDDs) include a collection of electronic and mechanical parts. HDDs function as memory devices adapted to record and reproduce data by converting digital electrical pulses to/from corresponding magnetic field impulses. HDDs provide permanent data storage on one or more disks containing a plurality of defined data “tracks”. HDDs are widely used as auxiliary memory devices in computer systems because of their ability to rapidly access large amounts of stored data.
With recent increases in track per inch (TPI) data storage density, as defined by a direction around the rotational axis of a disk, and bits per inch (BPI) data storage density, as defined by a direction across the thickness of a disk, contemporary HDDs are able to achieve very high capacity data storage with relatively small size. However, as the data storage capacity has increased while the size of contemporary and emerging HDD has actually decreased, the flying height (FH) for a constituent magnetic head—that is, the height at which the magnetic head floats above the disk surface—must be reduced to maintain or improve the recording and reproduction capability of the HDD.
Unfortunately, as the FH for a magnetic head decreases, the likelihood of impact or collision between the magnetic head and the disk surface increases. This is particularly true when the HDD is subjected to an externally applied impact or shock. Under such circumstances, the risk of damage to the magnetic head and/or disk is very great.